K-1 ROTR - Penn Schools Gracie in Hawaii
Royler Gracie vs Kazuyuki Miyata
Nov 21, 2004
The next bout saw the card's 'other' Gracie brother, the veteran
Royler, who is a five-time Brazilian Jiu-jitsu champion. Royler
holds more medals than any other Gracie brother and here the
veteran went up against a fighter making his mixed martial arts
debut, Japanese Olympic wrestler Kazuyuki Miyata. The
soft-spoken Miyata has been tapped by insiders to follow in the
footsteps of the elite Japanese now working the under 70kg weight
mixed martial arts class -- fighters such as Genki Sudo and Kid Yamamoto.
This was a thrilling contest, both fighters working smart strategy and effective counters. It was kicks and punches in the early going, before Miyata got the first takedown and got in. But Gracie was comfortable in the closed guard, and was able to skillfully limber his leg up toward a triangle choke. Miyata, however, was prepared for this, stretching up and then slamming his opponent to break the hold. Gracie's head made hard contact with the canvas, and the Brazilian looked in trouble here, so Miyata seized the opportunity to stand over and fire down punches. With the referee stepping in for a closer look, Gracie managed, before it was too late, to assume a defensive posture and fire a kick up at Miyata's head from the ground. The referee restarted the two standing, but they went to the mat again quickly, Gracie again in closed guard going for the triangle, Miyata using leverage to slam and break.
In the second, Gracie stared with a high kick that made partial contact, and Miyata answered with a nice spinning back punch. Soon the two were back on the ground, and this time Gracie locked up Miyata's legs better as he worked the triangle choke, and Miyata was unable to counter as before. After a few seconds, Gracie had settled in and tightened for the submission.
Said Gracie post-bout: "I had a hard time, the fight changed, it changes, it changes again, that is the way it goes. Its very nice to win when you fight someone who is fighting with heart, and Miyata is very strong -- it's his first time they all say but he is in very good shape and a good wrestler. If he trains in Gracie Jiu-jitsu he will get even better, actually if he practices too much, I won't want to fight him again!"
This was a thrilling contest, both fighters working smart strategy and effective counters. It was kicks and punches in the early going, before Miyata got the first takedown and got in. But Gracie was comfortable in the closed guard, and was able to skillfully limber his leg up toward a triangle choke. Miyata, however, was prepared for this, stretching up and then slamming his opponent to break the hold. Gracie's head made hard contact with the canvas, and the Brazilian looked in trouble here, so Miyata seized the opportunity to stand over and fire down punches. With the referee stepping in for a closer look, Gracie managed, before it was too late, to assume a defensive posture and fire a kick up at Miyata's head from the ground. The referee restarted the two standing, but they went to the mat again quickly, Gracie again in closed guard going for the triangle, Miyata using leverage to slam and break.
In the second, Gracie stared with a high kick that made partial contact, and Miyata answered with a nice spinning back punch. Soon the two were back on the ground, and this time Gracie locked up Miyata's legs better as he worked the triangle choke, and Miyata was unable to counter as before. After a few seconds, Gracie had settled in and tightened for the submission.
Said Gracie post-bout: "I had a hard time, the fight changed, it changes, it changes again, that is the way it goes. Its very nice to win when you fight someone who is fighting with heart, and Miyata is very strong -- it's his first time they all say but he is in very good shape and a good wrestler. If he trains in Gracie Jiu-jitsu he will get even better, actually if he practices too much, I won't want to fight him again!"
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